October 5, 1974
Purdue at Duke
Off their improbable win over 2nd ranked Notre Dame, Purdue & coach Alex Agase with a 1-1-1 record traveled to Durham, North Carolina to face Mike McGee’s 2-1 Duke Blue Devils. The Boilermakers out-gained the Blue Devils 291-183 but 10 penalties disrupted the Purdue offense & Duke’s RB Tony Benjamin scored 2 touchdowns as Duke recorded a 16-14 win to claim The Belt for the ACC. Duke pushed to a 10-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal from PK Dave Malechek & a 1-yard touchdown run by Benjamin. A mishandled snap on a punt attempt for the Blue Devils gave the Boilermakers the ball at Duke’s 29-yard line. Purdue’s RB Pete Gross finished the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with just 0:58 left in the half. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter but Boilermakers’ back-up QB Mark Vitali finished an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Purdue a 14-10 lead. Vitali was playing because QB Mike Terrizzi, who started but threw only one pass, was still hurting from his injury incurred in the Notre Dame game & was unable to continue. Duke got the lead back with 8:18 left after All-ACC KR Troy Slade returned a punt 16 yards before Benjamin scored on another 1-yard touchdown run. The missed conversion left the score 16-14 Duke & that is the way it remained. Duke’s QB Hal Spears threw for 29 yards completing 4 of 6 pass attempts while Benjamin added 79 yards rushing to his 2 touchdowns. Purdue’s RB Scott Dierking rushed for 122 yards in the losing effort. The Boilermakers finished the season 4-6-1 while Duke finished the season 6-5. Purdue would play for The Belt again in 1975.
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